Plastic – you just can’t give it away
I think we’re all now beginning to fully realise the horrendous nature of the plastic legacy that we have unwittingly brought upon ourselves. It’s almost impossible to visit any social media site without being bombarded by a series of disturbing images of some faraway beach covered in it or an innocent sea creature entangled in its destructive grip.
As a family, we’ve recently upped our efforts to try and drastically reduce the amount we get through each week. The highlights have been:
- Re-hiring a Milkman after an embarrassing 20-year absence.
- Sending a stinking email to Unilever asking why they insist on putting Marmite into squeezable plastic containers as an alternative to the traditional glass jar.
- Buying ketchup in glass bottles and refilling the old plastic one (yes, a perilous operation but well worth the effort!)
Business is Business
A few months ago, I read a comment from someone in the US complaining that the campaign against plastic would affect her job at the packaging plant. Such anxiety is understandable but we’ve all got to review our business practices to see how we can do more to stem the tidal plastic wave. As a company, we’ve also started looking at some small ways we can address this issue.
- As soon as our current packaging material is used up, we’ll make sure all the new stuff is as plastic free as possible. Bubble wrap has been out for some time.
- And I’m afraid we’re going to avoid dishing out those time-honoured plastic giveaways. The market is awash with them but there are plenty of more sustainable alternatives.
All these might seem like a drop in the ocean but we are simply left with no choice than to massively reduce the amount of plastic we use on a daily basis, and that starts now…